Kim Zmeskal, the 1992 Olympian whose disappointing performance in Barcelona was symbolized by a fall from the balance beam, is making a comeback at 22. The John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Indianapolis this week are her first major competition since Barcelona. "Well, I've matured for sure. I'm not the little pixie 16-year-old that I was, but I feel very in shape right now," said Zmeskal, who won the World Championships at 15 in 1991 and was a three-time U.S. champion.

Vanessa Atler received the highest single score of the night, Dominique Moceanu won two individual events and Kristen Maloney became the overall leader Thursday after the women's event finals and all-around preliminaries in the U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Atler, the defending U.S. all-around champion from Canyon Country, earned a national title in floor exercise with her high mark of 9.850 but was sixth in the all-around race with 36.975 points after the preliminaries.

Brothers Troy and Justin Dumais of Ventura took the top two places in the three-meter springboard event Saturday at the National Diving Championships in Dallas. Troy's victory came a day after he won the one-meter springboard and Justin's runner-up finish made them the first brothers in U.S. diving history to finish 1-2 in the national championships.

When you watch the women's gymnastics competition at the 2000 Olympics, there will be a surprise. Actual women. Women with curves, with hips and breasts. Women taller than 5 feet and heavier than a piece of cotton. Women who are stronger but not as flexible, women who can vault higher but might not be able to do so many back somersaults on the balance beam. After the 1996 Olympics, the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) instituted age requirements.

Distressed by a poor showing at the recent world championships and worried about the women's gymnastics team's medal prospects for Sydney, USA Gymnastics has brought Bela Karolyi out of retirement to be national team coordinator. Karolyi--the controversial figure known for his work with gymnasts from Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton to 1996 Olympic standout Kerri Strug--won't hold the title of U.S.

The Pan-American Games are the last major international competition that extremely young U.S. gymnasts remain eligible for, so there was an opportunity for a couple of 12-year-olds competing in the junior division of the Pan-Am trials Saturday at Cal Poly Pomona. Kristal Uzelac, all of 4 feet 2 inches tall and 62 pounds, faltered a bit on vault in her first event, but overtook the rest of a field that included 15-year-olds to win the all-around title with a score of 36.550.

A radio station in Columbus, Ohio, plans to carry Michigan football broadcasts, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Traitors? Try cutthroat competitors. "We're acting as a double agent for the Buckeye faithful, a secret spy satellite audio for the many Buckeye fans, allowing unprecedented insight into the enemy's planning," said WZNW program director Steve Konrad, who called Michigan's game "the second-biggest game every week."

Bela Karolyi, summoned out of retirement to revive prospects of the U.S. women's gymnastics program, got his first look at some of the athletes last month. He didn't particularly like what he saw. "To be honest, I wasn't pleased," he said. "The shape wasn't what is required for a world-class team. With small exceptions, the physical strength was not there. But every beginning is hard."

The year that will define Vanessa Atler's career is about to begin, and it probably is going to feel like one long tumbling pass--from the World Championships in China in October to the Olympic trials next summer and finally to the Sydney Games next September. "It feels like now, after championships, the clock is starting--to work my butt off, go out there and not stop," said Atler, 17. This week's U.S.